Regal revival: Uniformly excellent acting animates Drury Lane’s ‘The Audience’
“The Audience” — 3.5 stars
At the time of her death two years ago at age 96, Queen Elizabeth II had reigned for 70 years. Great Britain’s longest-serving monarch, she was the most famous woman in the world.
And the most enigmatic.
That left playwright Peter Morgan (“The Crown,” “The Queen”) free to endow her with whatever qualities he chose in “The Audience,” a clever, affectionate account of the weekly meetings between the queen and her prime ministers in a lovely revival at Drury Lane Theatre.
No records exist of these private audiences. The tête-à-têtes are entirely imagined in this time-jumping dramedy that serves as a primer on the monarch’s limited role in government. Elizabeth exercises no political power and by tradition expresses no public opinion. And yet, as one prime minister observes, she has “a way of saying nothing yet making (her) view perfectly clear.”
Wise, perceptive and politically savvy, she offers practical advice to her “all too human” ministers charged with wrangling unruly party members and appeasing an irritated electorate.
Janet Ulrich Brooks, an actor of uncommon depth and authenticity, plays the sovereign over the course of 60 years — as a newly crowned 25-year-old, a middle-aged matriarch and an octogenarian perplexed by an iPhone. Aided in her lightning-quick wig and costume changes by onstage dressers Sarah Chalcroft and Rebekah Ward, Brooks is a subtle conjurer. She channels the queen at various ages with lowered eyes, a flounce of her skirt, a change in vocal timbre. She is as impressive now as she was seven years ago when she played the role in TimeLine Theatre’s revival. More so, even.
The opening scene finds John Major (John Judd) whining about his dysfunctional party. First, Brooks’ Elizabeth mentors him, urging him to confront his party’s critics. Later, she shifts to consoler when a childhood memory brings him to tears.
Upon meeting her first prime minister, Winston Churchill (an appealingly imperious DeCaro), young Elizabeth is a pupil. He teaches her protocol and advises her to remain stoic and not reveal her struggles.
“It’s not what your subjects want from you,” he says.
To Raymond Fox’s overwhelmed policy wonk Gordon Brown, Elizabeth is a counselor, offering compassion for his mental health struggles and confessing a shared desire for quiet and order.
With self-described ruffian Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Ron E. Rains, endearingly impudent) she is familiar, even to the point of friendship. In Wilson, Elizabeth finds a kindred spirit, one who believes despite her aristocratic pedigree, she is “a good Labour woman.”
But not every relationship is amiable. When Anthony Eden (Mark Ulrich) dodges Elizabeth’s questions about an international incident involving the Suez Canal, she accuses him of conspiring to destabilize a Middle East nation. He responds that their efforts will “rehabilitate a country ravaged by a maniacal tyrant” and reinstate a pro-Western government. Fifty years later, Elizabeth sadly notes that Tony Blair (Alex Goodrich) makes the same arguments in support of the Iraq War.
Perhaps the most powerful, tension-filled scene occurs between the queen and Margaret Thatcher (played with resentful deference by Susie McMonagle, whose performance combines civility and menace). The question is South Africa sanctions. The queen favors them to force the end of apartheid. Placing profits above principles, Thatcher argues they will harm British workers. That scene is worth the price of admission.
Omi Lichtenstein, a poised young actress who plays Elizabeth’s younger self (alternating with Elin Joy Seiler) also deserves mention.
Ultimately, what struck me about director Jessica Fisch’s fine production — besides the uniformly excellent performances of its cast — was its stateliness evident in the restrained elegance of Andrew Boyce’s airy, duck-egg blue audience room and Isabella Byrd’s lighting. Unhurried, quietly confident, it all felt rather majestic.
And rightly so.
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Location: Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, (630) 530-0111, drurylanetheatre.com
Showtimes: 1:30 p.m. Wednesday; 1:30 and 7 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 20
Tickets: Start at $52.95, dinner-theater packages available
Running time: About 2 hours, 40 minutes, with intermission
Parking: Free in the adjacent lot
Rating: For most audiences